Air India will soon start direct flight to between Colombo and Varanasi allowing Sri Lankan Buddhists to visit locations of importance in the areas, he said.

Tamil speaking Hindus would also have the same opportunity to visit Hindu places of worship there, he said.

Sri Lanka is part of Indianized Hindu-Buddhist cultures that spread with increasing Indian influence and colonization from, Burma to Thailand, Vietnam and as far as Indonesia and beyond.

Sri Lanka is an important repository of Buddhism which originated in India, he said.

India has also benefitted from revival of Buddhism by Sri Lankan activists, Modi said.

In addition to Varanasi tens of thousands of Sri Lankans travel to places like the Bodh Gaya Temple in India, perhaps the most popular destination for pilgrims following a religious revival that occurred during the British period. Sri Lankans are also involved in preserving the site.

Bodh Gaya Temple came to the limelight after Sir Alexander Cunningham, a British officer, who later headed the Archaeological Survey of India, restored the site in 1880. (Colombo/May12/2017)